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Read the article from the East Brunswick Sentinel
Arthur Miller’s classic parable of mass hysteria draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch-hunt of 1692 – ‘one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history’ – and the McCarthyism which gripped America in the 1950s. The story of how the small community of Salem is stirred into madness by superstition, paranoia and malice, culminating in a violent climax, is a savage attack on the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations.
Cast List
Betty Parris Sophia Navarette
Reverend Samuel Parris Phil Bramson
Tituba Sheena Horne
Susanna Wallcott Alison McCabe
Ann Putnam Lori Fabian
Thomas Putnam Lance Hilfman
Mercy Lewis Caroline Fabian
Mary Warren Casey Chartier
John Proctor Robert Scott Langdon
Rebecca Nurse Susan Schwirck
Giles Corey Norman Halvorsen
Reverend John Hale Bob Nutter
Elizabeth Proctor Faith Dowgin
Ezekiel Cheever Ken Paris
John Willard Mike Sundberg
Judge Hathorne Bob Dumpert
Deputy Governor Danforth Mike Fabian
Sarah Good Marie Fiorello
About the Show:
The Crucible was first performed at the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway on January 22, 1953. The reviews of the first production, which Miller felt was styl- ized and too cold, were largely hostile, although The New York Times noted “a powerful play [in a] driving performance.” Nonetheless, the production won the 1953 “Best Play” Tony Award. A year later a new production succeeded and the play became a classic. Today it is studied in high schools and universities, because of its status as a revolutionary work of theater and for its allegorical re- lationship to testimony given before the House Committee On Un-American Ac- tivities during the 1950s. It is a central work in the canon of American drama.
The play was adapted for film twice, by Jean-Paul Sartre as the 1957 film Les Sorcières de Salem and by Miller himself as the 1996 film The Crucible, the lat- ter with a cast including Paul Scofield, Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. Miller’s adaptation earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay based on Previously Produced Material, his only nomination. The play was also adapted by composer Robert Ward into an opera, The Crucible, which was first performed in 1961 and received the Pulitzer Prize.
Opening Night Reception Featuring Appetizers by
Immediately following the show.
